Baseball 2/27/2014 6:15:00 PM

Stars club USAO 17-7

OCU picks up win in SAC opener

Connor Lynch slugged two solo home runs against USAO.

Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University opened Sooner Athletic Conference play Thursday with a 17-7 win over USAO at Jim Wade Stadium.
The Stars, ranked No. 5 in NAIA baseball, outslugged the Drovers 22-11 and clubbed 11 extra-base hits on the day to improve to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in SAC play.
OCU jumped on top 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning. Josh Dickey singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Jared Baker from second base. Garrett Foster drove in Austin Murphy with an infield single later in the inning.
In the bottom of the third, Connor Lynch homered to left field and gave the Stars a 3-0 advantage. Murphy doubled to right and drove in Baker and Forrest Smith to stretch the OCU lead to 5-0.
USAO managed a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. The Stars responded with a six-run bottom of the fifth and took an 11-2 lead.
Lynch led off the inning with his second solo blast of the game. Baker, Murphy and Dickey followed with back-to-back-to-back RBI extra-base hits to make the score 9-2. Josh Halbert capped the inning with a two-RBI double to right center and gave OCU a nine-run lead.
OCU pushed three more runs across in the bottom of the sixth. Halbert singled to left and drove in Murphy from third. Two batters later, Lynch doubled to right center and drove in the three more OCU runs. Adonis Askew scored on a wild pitch to cap the inning and make the score 16-3 in favor of the Stars.
The Droves plated four runs in the top of the seventh to make the score 16-7 and avoid the run rule.
Smith singled to right and drove in Foster in the bottom of the eight and gave OCU the 17-7 victory.
Shane Henderson tossed five innings and surrender two runs on five hits with four strikeouts to improve to 2-1 on the season. Holden Lyons pitched three innings in relief and struck out three.
Lynch went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs to lead OCU at the plate. Halbert and Murphy followed with three RBIs apiece.
OCU will return to action against USAO in a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday at Bill Smith Ballpark in Chickasha, Okla.
The Stars will take on Robert Morris (Ill.) at 10 a.m. followed by a 3 p.m. matchup with Tabor (Kan.) Saturday at Jim Wade Stadium. OCU's Sunday doubleheader against Park (Mo.) has been replaced by a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Robert Morris.

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